2015 | Bride Club ME’s Favourite Features

Now entering the fourth year since our website went live, and beginning a new chapter with the year ahead, Bride Club ME reflects and takes a look back at our most popular and favourite features of 2015. From organising our most recent ‘festive’ styled photoshoot with very little time to play with, and following the wedding planning journey of our gorgeous real bride contributor Barbaranne Heaton, who got married earlier this month, to featuring lots of diverse and beautiful reader weddings, below are just some of our highlights from last year. Enjoy!

A Festive Tablescape with an Industrial/Rustic Twist

December 2015 saw Bride Club ME and several of our fabulous vendors rally together in super hero motion, to create an impromptu ‘festive’ wedding tablescape shoot. Under normal circumstances, a shoot like this would have been planned months in advance and with careful execution, but personal circumstances meant that the last quarter of this year was a bit of a rollercoaster for me and in turn, I had editorial set-backs. Each year, we coordinate a styled shoot aimed at inspiring couples who are planning an intimate Christmas/December wedding or engagement. Therefore, despite the short time frame, we could not let Christmas pass us by without publishing this annual shoot.  Click here to see the full feature.

Dance For You Review | First Wedding Dance Classes, Dubai

Dubai based dance experts Dance For You invited BCME’s Assistant Editor Rachael and her husband to their Tecom studio in order to experience a trial ‘first dance’ lesson, as if they we were a couple wanting to learn to dance for their wedding day. If you have two left feet and need a helping hand, check out Rachael’s review here.

Mexican Wedding Shoot In Dubai

To bid a final farewell to a long, hot summer in 2015, Bride Club ME collaborated with some of Dubai’s finest vendors to create a bold and beautiful styled shoot inspired by the colourful hues of Mexico and Frida Khalo. The stunning images were captured by the incredibly talented Liz at Liz JvR Photography, and I’m sure you’ll agree that they are pretty darn gorgeous! This is probably one of our favourite styled shoots to date. Click here to read the full feature.

BCME’s Assistant Editor Rachael’s rustic DIY wedding @ The Desert Palm, Dubai

It would be a travesty if we didn’t include the stunning DIY wedding of BCME’s Assistant Editor Rachael in our annual round up! Rachael married her sweetheart Sandy in the same venue as BCME’s Founder Rio, The Desert Palm. Rachael chose a rustic theme and spent hours DIY’ing and ensuring she added that very special personal touch to her big day! Click here to read on.

Review: The Talise Fitness Royal Bridal Package

If there is one time in your life when you can really go all out with the personal pampering, it’s in the lead up to your wedding day. This bridal beauty and fitness review sampled some of the wonderful treatments and services on offer via The Royal Bridal Package, which brings together the expertise of Talise Fitness and Talise Spa to help brides look and feel their absolute best on their big day. Our Editor-In-Chief Rio talked us through her royal treatment which took place inside the impressive Burj al Arab. To read the review, click here.

A Colourful Sudanese-German Wedding in Dubai

One of the things we love most about the UAE is how culturally diverse it is, and this real wedding was no exception. Captured effortlessly by photographers Coffee Stains, Nesreen and Christopher were married in October 2015 in an intimate ceremony at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. It’s one of our most read real weddings to date. Click here to read the full feature.

Wedding Dress Shopping tips – Expert Advice

Choosing a wedding dress can be one of the most daunting yet exciting parts of the wedding planning process. There are so many styles, fabrics and colour variations available that the bride-to-be is often spoilt for choice. She may even find that her dream dress which she spotted in a picture actually does not feel like ‘the one’ when she tries it on. This post came courtesy of our BCME expert panellist Mohammed Al Haj, Managing Director at Contessa Bridal, Dubai, who offered his top tips when shopping for that all important gown. Click here to read on.

Hidden Wedding Gems in Dubai

Many a Dubai-based bride-to-be turns to Etsy.com to find her trinkets, favours and DIY elements for her special day. Yet, with a little research, almost everything you need can be found right on your doorstep, without the anxious wait and worry about the post. During her own wedding planning in 2013, Rio (Founder of Bride Club ME) made it her mission to seek out everything she needed in Dubai. Here, she shared some of her hidden wedding gem finds in the emirate.

Seven Things Wedding Photographers Love And Why – Maria Sundin

In the midst of planning your wedding, you’re likely to have several people tell you how the day goes by so fast, with hours passing like minutes on one of the most important events of your life. Photographs are a beautiful reminder of this special day, which, believe us, will become a bit of a blur when you look back on it once it’s all over. For this reason, it’s important to carefully consider not only what you want from your wedding photographer, but also what your wedding photographer might want from you and your groom in order to guarantee some gorgeous images that you can treasure for years to come. Here, the lovely Maria Sundin, our very own BCME vendor, talked us through how you can help your wedding photographer to ensure that you remember your wedding day as the beautiful occasion that it was.

Stress Free Wedding Invites – Design By Louma

Wedding invites. They may appear to be a straightforward task when it comes to planning your big day, but a quick browse of Pinterest will soon reveal that designing your invites (which, let’s face it, help to set the tone for the entire wedding) and delivering them to your nearest and dearest can actually be quite overwhelming. There are so many options that go far beyond deciding who to invite, such as style, colour and content, that this job can often be a taste of the obstacles to come throughout your wedding planning journey. Thankfully, our creative BCME vendor, Louma Bardawil of Design by Louma, gave us her five top tips to ensure that producing your wedding invites is a fun and enjoyable process. Click here to read the full article.

Don’t forget to log on to Bride Club ME in 2016 for more inspiring wedding planning features, advice and tips. If you are searching for wedding suppliers, check out the Bride Club ME vendor club directory, featuring hand selected wedding professionals from across the UAE and beyond, who are all there to help create the wedding of your dreams. Happy new year to you all!